KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — The 83 Malaysians who flew to Gowa, Indonesia, for the now-cancelled tabligh event will be compulsorily quarantined upon arriving home, said Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He also said the government has discussed the suggestion that the quarantine be extended to Malaysians abroad, and Malaysians who are flying in from other countries.
“It will be further discussed in detail tomorrow, once the Immigration Department has given us the total number of Malaysians overseas and who will come back to the country. The decision will be made after that,” Ismail said during a press conference.
Gowa’s administrative head Adnan Purichta Ichsan Yasin Limpo was quoted by CNN Indonesia as saying the tabligh was an annual event but whose organisers were requested to postpone it this year due to the pandemic.
According to a Facebook post by one of the tabligh’s organising committee members, 8,283 people from all over Indonesia were expected to attend the event, alongside 411 foreign participants, including the 83 from Malaysia.
It is understood that some of the international participants have been in Indonesia to attend the tabligh since February.
Meanwhile, Ismail said the government is also concerned about the plight of Malaysians working in Singapore.
“We have contacted them to discuss, our prime minister has spoken to his Singaporean counterpart, I have discussed this with the Singaporean defense minister, Datuk Seri Azmin (Ali) has discussed it with their foreign and economic ministries.
“We are currently negotiating for our 300,000 or so people there to be allowed to continue to work, on the condition that Singapore prepares accommodation for them. God willing, we will announce the final decision on this in the nearest future,” he said.
The minister also advised Malaysians to not engage in panic buying, since essential goods shops are still open as usual and many supplies remain available.
“I have been informed by the Agriculture and Food Industries minister and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) minister that food supplies remain sufficient. This is following the agriculture minister’s meeting with producers of rice and vegetables.
“KPDNHEP has already checked with premises selling food products, and reported back that all supplies remain there, so panic buying is simply unnecessary,” Ismail said.
